United States.
A totally different type of cooling technology can ultimately turn out to be even more efficient and environmentally friendly. This technology is called magnetocaloric cooling, in which certain solid materials are heated when placed in a magnetic field and cooled when removed from the field.
Scientists at Iowa State University's Ames Laboratory developed a project called CaloricCool sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through its Office of Advanced Manufacturing.
Unlike current cooling technology, which uses a steam compression process that requires a lot of energy, compounds called caloric materials can generate cooling when acting on magnetic, electrical, or mechanical forces. Several materials with so-called giant caloric effects have been around for nearly 20 years, but have lacked the efficiency and cost-effectiveness needed to succeed in commercial applications, such as household refrigerators, air conditioners, and frozen supermarket displays.
"The successful development of caloric cooling technology is highly inhibited by the lack of commercial availability of high-performance caloric materials," said CaloricCool Director Vitalij Pecharsky. "From designing, making and testing these high-performance calorics is the first order of the business, we want this consortium to become a national resource in caloric materials."
The goal of the project is to improve the energy efficiency of refrigeration technology by 20 to 30% in a decade through the use of caloric materials for cooling.
Source: www.ameslab.gov
